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FALSE ALARM
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Dictionary entry overview: What does false alarm mean?
• FALSE ALARM (noun)
The noun FALSE ALARM has 1 sense:
1. a warning that is given about something that fails to occur
Familiarity information: FALSE ALARM used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A warning that is given about something that fails to occur
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("false alarm" is a kind of...):
warning (a message informing of danger)
Context examples
In most allergic reactions, however, it is responding to a false alarm.
(Allergy, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
When I cried out that it was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed from the room, and I have not seen her since.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Again there was a long silence, and I had begun to fear that it was a false alarm, when a stealthy step was heard upon the other side of the hut, and a moment later a metallic scraping and clinking.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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